This is Vienna's Grayest Concrete Jungle 2025

In Vienna, the entire Neu Marx area won, while in the far west, the Symphonikerplatz in Bregenz was crowned the unwanted "concrete treasure." "The gray winning places clearly show: Here, more trees, shrubs, and flowering meadows are urgently needed," said Greenpeace soil protection expert Melanie Ebner.

Greenpeace announces talks on greening measures

Although the NGO's campaign is directed against land consumption and soil sealing, Angelika Psenner noted that not every sealed place is inherently a problem. "But the car-centered urban and spatial planning of the 20th century costs us a lot of valuable land. Unfortunately, the political stance defies current expert findings," said the expert in urban structure research at the Technical University of Vienna. The design of such places urgently needs to be reconsidered.

Greenpeace intends to use the award ceremony to engage in discussions with the responsible parties of the respective winning places about possible greening measures, the NGO announced. Reasons for rethinking the handling of the land resource were provided by Daniel Fügenschuh, President of the Federal Chamber of Civil Engineers. Excessive consumption endangers food supply and exacerbates heat islands and flood risks. From the perspective of his industry, "Austria is fully developed" - and therefore already developed areas should also be utilized. "We know that we can create quality spaces with creative solutions in existing buildings. Above all, our partially vacant town centers must be revitalized," demanded Fügenschuh.

Greenpeace finally called on the government to establish the announced target path for reducing land consumption, including binding, quantitative limits. Additionally, a nationwide unsealing and greening initiative is needed to make sealed public spaces climate-adapted and thus livable even in times of the climate crisis. In addition to the winners, an exhibition on the topic of soil sealing and soil protection was also presented, which can be seen on Tuesday and Wednesday with free admission at the Kunsthalle Exnergasse.

The "Concrete Treasure" Federal State Winners at a Glance

- Burgenland: EKO Oberwart

- Carinthia: Hofer parking lot in Villach

- Lower Austria: Rarely used parking area in Wiener Neustadt

- Upper Austria: Urfahr market area in Linz

- Salzburg: Kapitelplatz in Salzburg

- Styria: Parking lot Shopping City Seiersberg

- Tyrol: Parking lot Ski-Optimal in Hochzillertal

- Vorarlberg: Symphonikerplatz in Bregenz

- Vienna: Area Neu Marx

(APA/Red.)

This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.